We briefly talked about the events going on back in America that we had read about on our phones on our Facebook and news feeds – a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., violence, racism and President Trump.

“Look at the blues in the sky,” my brother-in-law said, changing the subject. We all looked up to admire the sky.

That’s one of the benefits of living abroad. You don’t have to feel guilty about being disconnected from the 24/7 news cycle back home. I say this as a recovering newsaholic and former newspaper reporter: It’s refreshing to get away from it all.

We focused instead on Dubrovnik, a walled city along the Adriatic that has its own history of turbulence, including scars from wartime shelling during the breakup of Yugoslavia 26 years ago. Today, the city is restored to its former glory and has become one of the prized destinations in the Mediterranean.

We meandered through its ancient streets, saw its churches, fountains and sculptures. We admired the views from the cable car that took us high above the city and dined at a restaurant aptly named Panorama.

We stuck our feet in the water at a beach called Copacabana and stopped at one of the roadside fruit stands along the Adriatic Highway on our way back to Zadar.

Our biggest troubles were navigating a nine-passenger van through Dubrovnik’s narrow streets (thank God Sarge is an ace at that), having nine people share one tiny bathroom and getting a ticket from one of Croatia’s finest for making a U-turn when we left the roadside fruit stand.

I’ll take those troubles over 24/7 Trump news any day. My advice? Turn it all off and look at the sky. Blue is the only color you need to see.

What a beautiful piece of writing! Thanks for sharing this – I absolutely agree that anything that’s naturally blue is worth staring at in wonder, and Dubrovnik is the perfect place to do that. That sky… that water… stunning!

I have to confess that I know about this location because of Game of Thrones. Are there crazy GoT fans in the street?… How you are feeling right now is how I felt in Cuba last month. I didn’t have access to the internet for 23 hours during the day, and when I logged in all I could see is the news back home in the US. And then I ignored it JUST for the remainder of my trip. Sometimes we just have to step away from all the madness.

I’m dying to go to Croatia! I keep seeing so many gorgeous pictures of it like the ones you shared. I love exploring old city areas, so I’ll definitely check out the city walls if I ever get a chance to visit.

I once read that a holocaust memorial was going to focus on the sky because so many survivors said looking up at the sky is what got them by. I think of that every time I see the sky and where my place in this big world is.

Since the election, I have been consumed by the news stories that seem surreal. After being away from home for almost 2 months, I was able to recharge and take in the nature that surrounded me. It gave me time to think about so many things, and put things in a healthier perspective. The only trouble was that I’d start to feel guilty for “ignoring” the problems of the world. I’m definitely a newsaholic. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.